The light of the situation
by seanygirl296
Summary: Ash is going through a tough, confusing experience involving battles, dreams and light. It's up to you to say whether he made it through.


**This is for the light themed contest! Here we go! **

* * *

This was the biggest moment of my entire life, no pressure. I stood with a strong stance, and with the absence of fear upon my face. Call it a shell if you will, because beneath my seemingly courageous outer skin, I was as afraid as person with acrophobia jumping out of a plane in flight. But I had to keep focused. I couldn't let my emotions get the better of me. I gripped unto my trainer wear with anxiety as I observed the scene before me.

I was in a six on six battle with Shaw. _The_ Shaw Maxwell, just the guy with the little ol' title of 'World's Current Pokemon Master'. He and I both had one Pokemon left, his Pokemon being Magmortar and mine was my best friend, Pikachu. Unfortunately, Pikachu was already partially damaged and Magmortar was at full health. But it seemed as though the weather was at my side with rain pouring all throughout the crowded stadium, and unto Magmortar. But then again, rain surely wouldn't affect a Magmortar of that strength. Actually, all the rain really did was wet the fire-type, causing steam to fog the battlefield. So, I guess the weather wasn't on my side after all.

Attacks weren't being called out for a while, which made me way more paranoid than when I started. From what I could have seen, Magmortar just laid there on the ground at other side of the field. What was the orange-haired champion up to?

"Pikachu! Don't let your guard down!" I ordered. Pikachu nodded and kept his sight on the competitor. I, however, was still unconvinced that that was enough, but it would be foolish to attempt to attack head on in this circumstance. I stared into Shaw's glowing red eyes. It was almost... hypnotic.

"Pika Pi!" The rodent Pokemon cried. Gasps and shrieks of surprise echoed throughout the previously silent stadium. The last thing I saw was bright fiery light, inching closer towards my face. And with every second, it grew hotter. There was no reaction time and nothing I could have done at that moment. Because before I knew it, I was out like a candle-light.

* * *

I woke up in a dimly lit room on what looked like a gurney. It seemed as if I was in the hospital, but why? A nurse came into the room to discover that I was awake. That was clear to see because of fact that as soon as she entered, she yelled, "He's awake!" ...I'm such a detective, aren't I?

But anyway, as I looked carefully on the nurse's face, I observed it was Officer- I mean Nurse Jenny. It was so messed up to see that she was now a nurse, but I guess I had more important things to care about now. For example, Why was I here? And why was my face wrapped in... bandages? I couldn't believe I didn't realize that earlier. But before I could have gone into further thought, into the room came a crowd of people, my closest friends and family.

"Ash!" I heard my mother cry. I twitched as she hugged me ever so tightly. It was more like a strangle.

But being the impatient yet clueless guy I was, I just _had_ to blurt out, "Whats going on? Why am I here?"

But then Mom's eyes started... leaking. I didn't mean to make her cry. Oh man. I was about to apologize but then someone stepped up to my gurney and tried to explain.

The brown-haired girl said, "You were burnt from the neck up with fire, Ash. That's why you're here."

"What? But how?" I asked louder than I anticipated. This was _not_ okay.

The girl continued, "From the battle with Shaw." From this point, her eyes too, began to leak. And my eyes joined the leaking party as well. The ambiance throughout the room was clearly tensed as everyone who gathered around my gurney cried and sulked.

I croaked, "Who won?"

She bowed her head and whimpered, "Shaw."

Then I wondered, why was I mentioning May in my head as 'The girl'? She was so much more than 'The girl' to me!

"May, O love of my life! O how I miss you so!" I didn't know why I said that, but it seemed so natural.

Right away, I heard Nurse Jenny yell, "He's delusional! It's the effect of the pain killers!"

I stared at May as she began to blush, and everyone around her had their eyes wide in shock. They were all seemingly amused.

"Hey, is that Brock and Max?" I shouted, "May! May! May! I lurve you!"

I started to squirm in my bed and I didn't know why, but it felt _good_. Everyone was escorted out of the room and I was put to sleep. I know for sure that the last thing I saw was a giant needle and then I think I fainted.

* * *

It was deja vu. I fluttered my eyes open for the second time in the very same room. But this time, it was empty. I observed my surroundings and learnt that I was hooked up to a machine, and was there for about over a week. I knew for a fact that the match with Shaw was on the twentieth of July. And it was now the first of August... 2013?

I was here for over a year?

"Nurse!" I yelled obnoxiously. Now was not the time to be polite.

Nurse _Joy _rushed into the room. "Oh, Ash! Thank goodness you're awake!" she exclaimed.

"Um, where's Nurse Jenny?" I asked in a confused manner.

She looked at me, puzzled, and explained, "Jenny is an officer, Ash."

"Huh? But she was here the last time I was awake!" I argued.

The nurse quirked her pink eyebrows and said in an extremely slow manner, "_This_, is the first time you've waken up."

I looked at her blankly, got up, then walked out of the room, detaching the machine chords from my body on the way. As I stepped into the hall, I couldn't help but notice how chilly it was. And then I realized why it was so chilly. My butt was outside! I was wearing this hospital... dress- thing!

"Where are you going?" she asked as she followed me, "You can't leave yet!" Hell yea, I can.

"I'm going home. I need to get things straight and you can't stop me."

But she did.

There it was again, or was it for the first time? There was this very familiar looking giant needle. What was worse than one giant needle? Two.

I was cornered. In a long white hallway stood two Nurse Joys, one before and one behind me, armed with these things! My vision blurred and everything started to spin. This was the end wasn't it?

"Ash!"

A worried looking, yet alluring, beautiful young woman called out to me.

"Ash! I've missed you so much!" May declared boldly as she pushed pass the nurse that faced me to grip me a little too tightly. I think she felt my butt too.

"I missed you too May, truly." I said as I messed with her beautiful, honey brown, strawberry scented hair. This was beginning to sound like a really bad soap opera so I decided to cut it. Pulling away from May, I turned to the nurses to ask, "So, can I leave now?"

One of the nurses responded pleasantly with a faint smile, "You can leave shortly, just right after you've done a few tests to ensure you're okay."

That, I could live with, though I didn't know the full extent of what they were talking about. Because to me, I thought I was pretty darn fine. But I guess not if they had to be running tests.

And then I saw.

As we strolled through the halls, I couldn't help but notice myself in a mirror on the door of a hallway cabinet.

I was hideous!

My face was bare, and unsightly with uneven skin that had been burnt from the incident. All facial hair was gone, even that of my eyebrows and eyelashes. My features were wrinkly and scarred! My sexy face was no more! That was when everything came into place.

_The battle with Shaw was real._

_I was here for over one year._

_I lost to Shaw..._

Oh Arceus! Why did I have to loose my face too?

"Ash? Are you okay?" The Nurse Joys asked simultaneously with concern. May looked at me worriedly. It was obvious to them that it was the first time I had laid eyes upon my new self. They were aware of that. But what they didn't know was how I felt towards it, inwardly. I continued to stare at my ugly face and saw the tears seeping out of my eye sockets. I kept intact with my dry optimism to think 'At least my _tears_ still work'.

May finally caught on and tried to cheer me up. "Ash, you need to try to see the light of the situation," she advised.

The last few words of her sentence stayed with me, 'the light of the situation'. I scoffed. Boldly, I took off with a dash, blocking out the women's calls of concern. At that moment, I didn't care. Luckily, I just happened to run into a random room that was empty. I figured I would be undisturbed as I sought out things in my head. First of all, none of this makes any sense. Shaw is supposed to be in jail. Secondly, where is Pikachu?

Then I thought back to what May had said, 'the light of the situation'. The last thing I saw before the incident was a blast of fiery light, so the last thing I wanted to hear at the moment was _that_. I would rather stay in the dark. Yea, I should stay in the dark to hide my hideousness from the world. Everything was so traumatizing. Hey, do I smell bacon?

"Ash! Ash!" May's terrified voice blared throughout the atmosphere. It was _obnoxiously_ loud.

"Pika pi!" Buddy? Now it didn't make any sense!

"Ash, get up!"

"I'm already up! Pikachu, where are you?" I shouted in ignorance.

"Piii... Kaa... Chuuuu!"

The atmosphere of the hospital room totally faded away and I think I was back to reality. The first thing I felt was pain, _agonizing_ pain. And then I saw Pikachu's dying light from electricity. And then I smelled barbecue, not bacon. I was in the backyard of my home at night, and Pikachu apparently just electrocuted me, which explains the smell of barbecue. And May just sat there on the grass looking at me, quizzically.

"Ash! You've slept there for days! Are you not even hungry?" I couldn't believe my ears. Was this all a dream?

"W-What?" I asked lazily. Then Pikachu began to chirp so quickly that even I couldn't understand. It was way too incoherent.

"We were worried sick about you!" May explained.

"No time to explain just get the mirror!" I shouted.

The two looked at me like I look at my crazy uncle Beastmode. That's not a good sign.

"Nevermind," I said as I waved my hand in their direction, "I need to get in the light!" I totally left them in the dust, anime style.

I scampered into the house and headed toward the bathroom. The bathroom was the room with the biggest mirror so I knew it was ideal. I stepped into the bright white light above the large mirror and scanned every inch of my face. From that moment, I knew everything was okay. I was back in my usual clothes and most importantly...

"My sexy face's back! _Yea_ buddy!"

* * *

**I wanted to challenge myself and do a first person story. That, and get back into the game. I've fell back on writing horribly and this contest was a good way to start back. And to those who's read this story and like the interaction between Ash and May, I bet you like Advanceshipping then. If you're a big Advancer then check out our forums at "advancers. proboards .com" Feedback is much appreciated. Thanks again! :)**


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